Loose Slag from The Still Mill

November 17, 2009 by Still Mill

Slag - Nov. 17, 2009

Loose Slag from The
Still Mill

- Not sure
which Cinci loss was worse�..this latest debacle, or the come-from-ahead loss
in 1997 when Jeff Blake threw a deep ball up an elevator shaft and Carl Pickens
just toyed with DeWayne Washington to haul in the TD and
then the 2-pointer.��

- Said The Idiot Arians on the late 2M drill that produced exactly
zero yards:��

���� "We
were just trying to get the ball down the field deeper because we needed
chunks," offensive imbecile Bruce Arians said. "We didn't protect
very well. We had to go a long way. We couldn't nickel-and-dime our way down
there with that amount of time."��

� ���Damn.� This guy is more clueless than even I thought
he was.� The Stillers still had one
timeout.� The drive started at the Stiller
33.�� There was 1:49 remaining on the clock.�
We know Arians is a complete imbecile, so let me explain things for him.� Ya don�t need to
throw 53-yard bombs to move 67 yards in 1:49.�
The defense is SITTING BACK in a PREVENT defense, giving you plenty of
open room on short & medium routes.�
We have excellent RAC runners in Tonio, Ward, Wally, and Moore.� Three (3) medium range completions, with RAC,
of, say, 14 yards a piece would put the ball at the Cinci 25.� Now, you�re in striking range, as opposed to
flailing about like a beached whale on your own 33 on 4th down and 10.�� Bruce Arians -- the NFL�s Offensive Dumfuck of the Year.�

- More
Arians stupidity.� On a key 3d & 5 at
9:40 3Q, Hines Ward was kept in the backfield to PASS BLOCK.� No kidding.�
Go watch it for yourself.� The
play, by the way, failed to move the sticks and the Stillers punted.�

- James Harrison
had the entirely boneheaded personal foul flag late in the game to help sustain
Cinci�s long, clock chewing, yardage-eating
drive.�� Here�s what Harrison
said after the game, per the Post Gazette:�

�� Whitworth
pushed Harrison in the back after a 2-yard gain by RB Bernard Scott, prompting Harrison to retaliate with a punch. "He pushed me in
the back so I turned around and hit him in his head," Harrison
said. Asked if he knew that would result in a 15-yard penalty, Harrison said, "I didn't care nothing
about that at the time."

�� ��Wow.
Great display of an unselfish, team-first attitude, eh?�� Any opposing coach worth his salt is going
to run out a backup TE to give Harrison a
baby-shove after the whistle, just to goad the hothead into another foolish,
no-brained penalty.� Tomlin, who
selectively punishes players, ought to do something to send a message for this selfish,
outrageous lack of professionalism and teamwork.� But, don�t count on it.�

- For sick
comedy, you really have to watch Hartwig and Essex on the last 4th down play at
the end of game. 1:31 left in the game, one last play, 4th down, game on
the line, and THIS IS WHAT YOU GET??? From Hartpig and Gay Essex???� Really sorry.�� Toss in the wretched game by Chirs Kemo and Max Starks, and you have a good chunk of the
O-line that failed to provide even a modicum of adequate performance.� �I'm tellin' ya, Larry Zierlein must have been downloading porn all week...

- The
simplest, quickest, easiest answer to the Stillers KO coverage woes: start using the squib kick.�
I�m not sure what Tomlin is waiting for on this.� It�s simple; requires no new personnel; and
minimal training. �Reed has show he�s
incapable of booming his kickoffs deep into the EZ, like some NFL kickers.� Our coverage teams suck well-water.� Squibbing is the
key. Every team in the NFL should do it...at least the ones with good defenses.
There is no downside to squibbing, and a good
kicker could practice this into an "art", like they have with the
rugby pooch punt. If you could get that squib bouncing erratically
(not difficult with a regulation NFL football), you've opened a whole new part
of the ST game.� Fumbles by �up men� are
bound to happen, and even if the opposing team advanced the ball to the 35-yard
line, is that really so terrible??�� I�d
take that over watching another long KO return for six.� At this point, Reed should be practicing his
squib kicks and should be squibbing it on every
KO.�

- Tomlin
was asked about Reed and his puss-like tackling attemps
on KO returns during the Tuesday presser. Said Tomlin: "Man, I am
not going to go down to evaluating Jeff Reed as a tackler," Tomlin said. "When it comes down to that, we have failed as a coverage
unit. I don't lose any sleep on the quality of Jeff Reed's tackles -- or
tackle attempts. People have misread Jeff. Just because he punched
out a towel dispenser, people think he is a badass. I can assure you that
he is the biggest pussy on this team. Next year, we'll obtain a kicker
who is a real man."

- Farrior
once again gets tooled badly on 3d & 5 by a back-up RB running a simple out-pattern.� I ask
again: Why is Farrior even on the field on 3rd down & obvious passing situations??�

- One man
who I�d like to see on the KO team -- Ziggy Hood, as a wedge buster.� Orpheus Roye did these chores as a young
player.� Hood could easily do the
same.� And since Dick is terrified at
using this guy on defense, we ought to try to get our money�s worth from the
millions we�re paying this guy this season.

- I wrote
this after the Cinci loss in Week 3, and I believe it holds even truer
today:� What really disturbs me beyond
the loss itself is the fact they are losing to mediocre teams. Further,
you beat divisional rivals like the Browns & Bungals and you send them into
a tailspin of second-guessing, finger-pointing, coach-firings and
rebuilding. I have a feeling that if the Steelers had beaten Cinci, Lewis
would be gone by season's end and the housecleaning would begin, setting
them back by another 5 years. The truth is that every team in the league
has real talent -- even Detroit!
-- but learning to win is difficult and some
teams never figure it out. By letting Cinci win the Stillers
are letting the Bengals learn how to be men and progress as a
team.

- The 2-TE
offense -- which is essentially the base offense of Airhead Arians -- is built
upon the premise that the 2nd TE will created matchup
problems in both the passing and running games.�
And therein lies the problem.� Spaeth is a wretched, horrific, weak-kneed,
pile o� shit blocker at the POA (point of attack).�� Slow as he is, he has some redeeming value
as a pass catcher, but Arians, in a paradox only he could create, rarely ever
involves Spaeth in the passing game unless Heath Miller is out due to
injury.� Big Matthew has 4 grabs in 9
games this season; 17 in 16 games last season; and 5 in 14 games in �07.�� In essence, then, he�s good for, at most, 1
catch per game.�� In this latest debacle,
he caught 1 ball for 1 yard.� So alas,
you have a 2nd TE who can�t block and is rarely ever used in the passing
game.��

- Dick�s
vaunted defense once again failed to produce a turnover.� In all three losses, the defense has failed
to produce a single turnover.� Sure, Pola
was out.� I just checked�.there are 10 other starters, plus NFL rules allow us to insert an
NFL player when Pola cannot play.� It�s
no excuse to use Troy
as a crutch.� Defensive coordinators around
the league would literally amputate an arm to have the other 10 starters, plus
the depth, from our defense.� It�s high time Dick show some urgency; turn up the volume;
and start emphasizing gang-tackling and reckless abandon.�

- If Troy
Brown was able to play both ways as a WR/DB, then yes, Hines, James Harrison, Keisel,
and others can play on the KO coverage team.�
With Arians� feeble-fuck offense, it�s not like we have a lot of
kickoffs to cover down on�

- Any truth
to the rumor that Hooker Reed�s agent -- after watching Reed do another �olay� on a kickoff returner -- is
reaching out to Colbert, begging him to re-extend the contract offer that
Reed�s camp summarily rejected just before the season began�.?�

- Any word
on if Colbert has offered Farrior yet another contract extension??�

Still Mill and
Stillers.com -- �When it comes to the analysis of the Pittsburgh Stillers, no one else comes
close�.�